This study focuses on the influence of infant characteristics on parent behavior. Specifically, effects on mother's behavior of the attribution to the infant of particular appearance or behavioral characteristics are examined. Three conditions are studied: (1) Mothers are asked to provide infants with "love" or "comfort" --both abstract examples of nurturance. Analyses are made of the mother-infant interaction to which each abstraction reduces. (How these patterns of interaction relate to situational and demographic variables is also examined.) (2) Similar observations are made of hospital nurses when they interact with infants arbitrarily labeled male or female. (3) Following a nominal examination of the infant, the investigator makes a statement to the mother emphasizing a transient infant characteristic. Parental and infant responses (e.g., hugs, smiles, verbalizations, kisses, squeezes) are assessed.